First Kisses
by Dracorum
Summary: FFIV. Another take on the timeless story of their eternal love. Follow them through their first kiss, first night, separation and reunion. The ups and downs of any relationship can be overcome with compromise. Post-game. Valentine's day fic-a-thon entry.
1. First Kisses

Disclaimer: Made by a fan for fans only.

For all the good people of the EdgexRydia shippers forum's Valentine's Day Fic-a-thon (moar details on Freida Right's bio). Keep the love flaming!

* * *

**First Kisses**

Rydia didn't know what to expect out of the evening, but the kisses weren't it.

The night had started well. She was dancing and sharing the joy of Cecil's and Rosa's wedding with everyone within reach. The room spun, in a nice way, as she clapped, whirled, and exchanged partners with the white mage to her left.

The next thing she knew, she was under someone's cloak being steered rather expertly toward the outside balcony, placed into a corner, and kissed.

For a long time.

It had felt nice, not as alarming as it should have been. Considering that it was her first kiss in the very complex timeline of her life, she felt it qualified as a good memory. The person must have been as drunk as she was, and she was prepared to forgive the man for celebrating so enthusiastically he would kiss a perfect stranger.

Imagine her surprise when she finally saw her kisser fully, the one person who had refused to meet her eyes all evening and broke every rule of social grace in her presence.

Anger. Embarrassment. Finally, pride kicked in.

She tried to speak, yelled out the weight of the sadness he had made her feel, "Edg-!"

Another kiss. This time she didn't even have the energy left to think, let alone stand upright. His arm tightened around her waist, another hand tilted her chin, the fingers placed lightly against her cheeks.

In between breaths she had only one, singularly clear, thought. That she was trembling, from Eidolons knew what, and that _he_ was trembling too. His fingers tapped little tremors down her neck, wrapped in her hair as he pulled her even closer, traced ice and fire in their wake as he explored the contours of her collarbone.

The night lit up with fireworks and a crowd rushed out onto the balcony to exclaimed at the sight. No one glanced into the corner, no one noticed the shadows of two people so intertwined they may have already become just one being.

The lightshow ended. Celebrants cheered one last time and drifted back into the ballroom, oblivious to a battle of boiling emotions just a few feet away behind the glass doors. The chill night wind returned, but the heat from his hands kept her from its bite.

Words failed to arrange into coherent sentences for Rydia. She didn't know what was up or down, or whether she was still feeling angry, or sad, or any combination in-between. So she gave up, and concentrated on listening to their shared heartbeats and making sure the earth was still under her feet.

Their hands found each other and held fast as the kiss broke away. Silence drew on as both tried to say and un-said the things they have been throwing at each other ever since the evening began.

A tear slipped from her eyes. Shocked, she willed it to dry mid-air but instead the unruly drop splashed onto Edge's hand. Instantly he hurried to let go, "Rydia, I'm sorry, I-Eidolons-this is not how I-"

He stopped as Rydia held onto his hands even more firmly, nails almost drawing blood, "Don't. Don't you dare run away, you coward."

Edge choked, instinctive rage flamed as he opened his mouth to deny her accusation, then just as abruptly his voice died in his throat. She was right. He _had_ been running. Ever since he first saw her, he had been running and hiding, fearful of exactly what had just happened tonight.

He had lost his hard-won control because of his own careless inebriation, and he owed it to Rydia to face the consequences.

He tensed as she looked up and directly into his eyes, his hands twitched as she studied his exposed face. Edge fought against the very core of his ninja-being, the ingrained habit to blend into the shadows and disappear. His heart beat in slowed time from a mixture of fear and dreadful hope as he felt Rydia's hands tugged him closer...

The kiss this time was slow, a replacement for the words they were unable to say aloud as yet. A study of what made their joined hands felt so right.

Rydia learned fast. And the night was still young enough for lessons in other...things.

* * *

Prompts: first kiss and...night maybe? Yes, I went there!


	2. In Their Waking

For iflip4dolphins, their story does need more closure. And just for the heck of it!

* * *

**In Their Waking**

The first thought that popped into Edge's head, even before he opened his eyes, was 'This is going to be awkward.'

Peeking from beneath his lashes, he sneaked a look toward the warm bundle still sleeping curled against his left torso. Rydia, with nothing on but her mass of green hair and crushed flower crown, took his breath away yet again. Sadly, he didn't remember much of last night due to the state both of them were in. One thing he could say for certain however, seeing how the two of them ended up in this situation _mutually_, it must have been some damn good wine Rosa was serving in her wedding banquet.

He pulled up the blanket and adjusted his arm under her head. A stab of pins and needles travelled up his limb, but he could live with the pain. Anything was bearable if they could stay like this a little longer.

Maybe he dozed off again, because the next thing he was aware of was a pair of eyes and being stared at. "Like what you see?" he smirked, and felt the hand rose up for a predictable slap.

But it didn't hurt. He opened his eyes wide as he felt the fingers on his cheek teased his lips. Rydia was only a few inches away, smelling sweetly of the white flowers in her hair. She smiled, eyes twinkled wickedly, and kissed him.

Edge wondered if he would ever get used to being kissed by her. He hoped not.

"I still haven't forgiven you, Your Majesty," she said between each tiny kisses, "but I'm willing to overlook your faux pas from last night if you take me to breakfast."

He rolled over her, trapping her arms beneath his hands, "Do you seriously think I will let you get out of the bed this morning?"

Rydia tilted her head innocently and nodded toward his suddenly rumbling stomach, "I'm rather certain you will."

Embarrassed, 'Way to go Edge. Who's the one more experienced here?', he slid down the bedside and bent to find his clothes without further comment.

In the process of looking for his shirt, he was startled to see Rydia sitting up without any covering. She stretched, and Edge being Edge, he couldn't help but let his eyes travelled over her appreciatively.

She caught him staring though, and raised her brows even as her cheeks colored, "Like what you see?"

That got a laugh out of him, and he walked over to kiss her cheeks, "You know it."

Rydia turned her head and kissed him back, "We _are_ going to talk, without kissing, after this."

He pulled back and looked into her eyes, the green summer eyes that caught him in their snares ever since they first met, "Of course."

Satisfied, she turned away to look for discarded clothes as well, except an arm caught hold around her waist and lifted her up against a broad chest.

Edge smiled brightly as she frowned up at him, "So you'll forgive me if I keep on kissing you until 'after' comes to call?"

Rydia stared, incredulous, "Are you jok-"

Unfortunately for the two of them, breakfast was long cleared away once they finally managed to make their way downstairs.

* * *

Prompt: I think this counts for being comically (or stupidly) in love. Gah, I hurt my sweet tooth. I think I'll just continue to upload the Valentine's stories in here for continuity's sake.


	3. The End of Summer

For iflip4dolphins again, cuz well, you know, IDEAZ.

* * *

**The End of Summer**

The most problematic person, Rydia thought, will be Rosa. She was her friend, sister, and mother, all combined into one very, very, very worried woman. She will be the first to notice something has happened between the two of them.

And in this prediction, Rydia was right.

Rosa caught Rydia as soon as she left the dining room after her late lunch, towed her all the way up her honeymoon tower to the now shared room with Cecil, and proceeded to interrogate her young charge for details by all sorts of gruesome tactics.

Which is to say, afternoon high tea with Porom and Palom.

Caught, and with nowhere to put the delicate porcelain cup in one hand and biscuit in another, Rydia could only submit.

"So," Rosa opened as she poured another cup for a positively giddy Porom, "tell me what you think of the ball last night."

Rydia choked, the worst and dearest thing about Rosa was that she thought she was subtle, "Oh, well, it was lovely. I liked the flower garlands you put around the pillars. A nice touch."

"You must have spent a long time near the pillars to know such a thing." Palom drawled, and snickered because he thought he was also subtle.

Suppressing an urge to roll her eyes at them, Rydia finally has had enough, "You may as well come out with them." and in reply to their innocent looks, "Yes, I will answer _those_ questions, the ones you are so obviously thinking about."

"How was your first kiss?" Porom burst out, spilling a bit of tea onto the saucer in her excitement. Palom grimaced and continued to demolish the sweets, but was still listening with one ear. Rosa just primly added a dollop of milk and stirred, looking on with apparent calm.

Despite the fact that Rydia asked for it, she still blushed a little at the direct way Porom was looking at her, with eyes sparkling and half out of her seat, "It was...nice. Unexpectedly."

To cover up her embarassment, she nibbled on the biscuit and was pleasantly surprised by the fruit jam hidden inside.

"And? What else?" Porom wasn't finished, but at least she had put her cup down before it irreparably spilled onto Rosa's new set of upholstery.

Feeling a bit less in control, Rydia hedged, "It was...not too long. Or all that short..." Suddenly finding it hard to explain a grown-up concept to cheeky five-year-olds, she veered off to face her supposed savior, "And um, really Rosa this biscuit is lovely, could I trouble you to give me the recipe?"

Rosa smiled angelically, "Of course, let me get it for you right now."

She had already gotten up from her chair by the tea service as Rydia tried not to panic, "Oh, no, I really don't want to be a bother, later is fine-"

"It's no trouble at all. I'll be only a moment." Rosa beamed serenely and floated out of the room.

Open-mouthed, Rydia shivered as she watched Rosa descended and peeked fearfully at the twins. Both of their eyes were on her now.

A panicked scream followed the gentle white mage down the stairwell, who only hummed happily as she skipped down the steps in response.

* * *

Edge found her much later in the evening on the balcony overlooking the rose gardens. 'Found' in the context of: he was looking for the most remote corner of the castle, had climbed up onto the roof to distract stubborn pursuers, spotted her below him, and dropped down discreetly beside her.

One look at her face and he smiled sympathetically, "Rosa got to you."

"The twins did, through her, the sneaky little goblins." Rydia sighed, and glanced up reproachfully, "I see you've come to no harm."

He sat down beside her and shared his cloak, "Only on the exterior. I've been pining for your sweet scent all day as I ran for my life."

Rydia huffed but snuggled closer, "Liar."

She listened to the rumbling of his voice from where she laid her head, "Oh no, it's the honest truth. I was pursued all day by a jumping dragoon, a disapproving bard, a livid engineer, a stiff monk, and an even stiffer paladin. With all of those muscly men out for my blood, I was lucky to get out of it more or less intact."

She giggled at his bland tone, "More or less? Perhaps your pride took a little more beating that you had realized."

It was his turn to huffed. Rydia thought it was adorable how he always bragged that he was the best, period, to be proven wrong time and time again, but despite everything never gave in to despair.

Zeromus.

Rydia shivered involuntarily. Edge moved to hold her in this arms, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and smiled up at him, "It's getting a little colder at night."

Edge nodded, "It'll be the end of summer soon," and looked out into the darkening sky.

They stayed like that for awhile and watched the sunlight turned into soft shades of pinks and purples, a last flash of gold before the velvet tapestry of night.

"Edge?" Rydia braved herself to ask, "Will you come visit me sometime?"

Startled, Edge looked at her, "You're not coming back with me to Eblan?"

Rydia pushed herself up into a sitting position and gazed fully into his eyes, "No. Mist needs me, Edge. I may not be a carpenter or a brick-layer or anything useful in this peaceful time, but I can at least carry things in my arms, cook them meals, and just...be there for them."

"But, I-" he swallowed, "I thought we were-"

"What are we? An out-of-work summoner and a king? This-" Rydia motioned them, still seated close together inside his cloak, "will never become anything but a passing dream, Edge."

He grasped her hand with one of his own, her chin with another, and hissed, "You, mistress out-of-work summoner, are not convincing anyone with that trembling voice."

Rydia struggled to stand too late, "Don't-", her hand tried to push his face away, only to drew down his mask.

A rough kiss, tracing their way from her lips down her wildly beating pulse and even lower, until she was lying across the small bench and struggling to make no sound.

He was angry, Rydia thought, why?

Abruptly he let go, and stepped back, breathing hard. Rydia, her beautiful face, her arms, her legs, her scent, her charms and laughter, her need to do right by everyone..._every single thing_ about her was driving him mad. He wanted to wake up and see her for every morning of his life, just like earlier today. To see her peacefully sleeping with no cares, no fate of the world weighing down those small shoulders.

But.

"You're right." Edge finally admitted. "If this," he motioned them, "is just a dream to you, who am I to say otherwise? It's better to just give up, isn't it? To stop trying before someone gets hurt."

He adjusted his mask up again, "And to answer your question, no, I will not be able to visit you. I will be busy, trying to rebuild Eblan as its king."

Edge turned away and paused on the lip of the ledge. Rydia struggled to stand and found her knees too weak.

"I wish you the best of luck. For Mist." he intoned, before stepping off.

Rydia finally found her legs and rushed to the balcony's edge. Of course there was no one below. She sank down against the cold marble and sighed shakily. There were no tears. She had none left after her mother's death, after Mist was burned, after last night.

Still. She sat there all night and through the morning, until Rosa found her shivering from the dew and led her inside.

* * *

Prompt: meddling party members, separations


	4. Red and Yellow

Anddddd drumroll for the conclusion! Sorry for taking so long iflip4dolphins!

* * *

**Red and Yellow**

It was not the parting he had hoped for. In fact, he had never wanted to part from her at all. But it was done, foolishly, childishly, and bitterly. He had cut off her attempts to meet halfway and ran.

And it won't be the last time he would hurt her, if he had been stubborn and more persistent about continuing their...relationship. Parting really may have been for the best after all.

Why, then, the regrets? Perhaps because their summer had only lasted a handful of kisses and just the one night. That wasn't what Rydia meant to him. She was not someone he wanted just because of her soft lips or softer body. She was not a brief fancy or an infatuation which could, all too easily, be forgotten with time.

Even though time was all he had now.

* * *

Winter in Eblan consisted of nights of freezing, howling, sand-laden winds, alternated with days of intense dryness, when the air was so still, a closing door hinge would creak all the way down the hallway.

It made for a very good environment to train ninjas.

A blade flashed downwards. Edge quickly parried and shifted back out of harm's way, straight into another ambushed attack. He whirled in time to dodge, jumped, flipped mid-air, and landed lightly on the castle's outer wall, where he eyed his attackers warily.

Twenty against one was a little much, even for the best like him.

"Give it up Master!" one of the bolder ones cried out and readied his ninjato for a last rush, "You're not getting away!"

Edge cocked an eyebrow and looked behind them, towards the elderly Seneschal hidden in the fold of walls, "Playing a numbers game? Very droll, old man, but it's time to stop the jokes."

"This is no game, your Young Highness_,_" the Seneschal enunciated as he stepped into the sunlight, "It has not been for some time now." and gestured for those arrayed by his side to pull out their shurikens.

"Is that so? You could have fooled me, seeing how these children are waving sharp things around like they know how to use them, and worst, believing that they _do_ know."

"They are competent enough for the job at hand." the Seneschal waved away Edge's sarcasm as if it was a stubborn moth, "So. Will you still run?"

"Not on your life," Edge smirked as he drew his twin katanas, "Let's see how they fare in a fight with evened odds!"

The Eblan Four watched with great amusement from a safe distance as Edge launched himself off the wall and wailed like a whirlwind into the group of teenage trainees, expertly whacking left and right with his wooden katanas to shouted dismays and mock death throes. The Seneschal, who had gamely volunteered to be the group's tactician, shouted instructions from the side to direct attacks and maneuvers. Edge himself was instructing the kids even as he tripped feet and dodged clumsy throws. Between the two of them, and the tens of abused young men and women, the center courtyard was filled with cheerful noise, capable of driving anybody in the vicinity mad.

Not to say it wasn't fun to watch however.

"Is it just me, or are Master's blows a bit heavier than usual?" Gekkou mused as he looked on the scene.

Izayoi shook her head and sighed, "He's getting carried away by the warlike atmosphere-"

"You think so? I think he just gets a kick out of the yelps," Tsukinowa interjected as he seated himself more comfortably on the bench with Zangetsu.

The eldest of the Four chuckled, "Well, no permanent harm is done, so why not let him do as he likes? Master hasn't been himself ever since the beginning of the month. Perhaps this training session will lighten his mood."

"He's been depressed ever since he got that letter from Troia. I wonder what it said to brought about such change in him." Gekkou said worriedly. Out of the Four, he may be the one most sensitive to Edge's temper as he had spent the longest time training under their ruler.

Izayoi smiled secretly. Men. What afflicted Edge was obvious to her, but so far she seemed to be the only one who had realized it.

The letter was an invitation for the Winter Equinox celebrations. It had arrived without fanfare one afternoon, tied on a dried red rose.

A sign which could only meant a royal command to attend a matchmaking session.

Never stated literally in such vulgar terms, of course, but close enough. The rose was Troia's fair warning that there will be many eligible girls attending the dances, shows, and festivities. And many of them will wish to get to know the still quite single, still extremely attractive, King of Eblan.

However, even Izayoi and her womanly instincts couldn't have guessed Edge's true reason for his dread. He had already known for some time that he, and effectively the chair next to his throne, would become a target if he retained his celibacy long enough. He would be pursued, if not by others trying to matchmake him, at least by women trying to throw their shapely selves into his path.

If he had been younger he would have welcomed their advances. Gleefully even.

But that was ten years ago. A time before the summoner with green eyes and her shy kisses. Now, his strongest urge was to avoid the spotlight as much as diplomatically possible, while surviving the onslaught of memories.

He was getting a little too old for this.

* * *

Rydia's routine started in the light of dawn. She woke as the sun filtered softly through her shutters and curtains, and thawed the room's wintry chill. A quick splash of water on her face and a through brush of teeth and hair later, she was ready to start another day.

The winter in Mist was mild, owing to its remote location in the middle of an expansive mountain range. Snow piled the ground in soft clumps and sparkled brightly in her eyes as Rydia checked that the front door was securely fastened before she strode across the narrow path. She went first to greet the innkeeper and ate a light breakfast of hot toasted bread and berry tea, then continued on toward the center of the village.

Ten years on, the rebuilding had finally settled into the occasional repairing of leaks and stopping up gaps in the woodwork. The workmen knocked down icicles and turned to holler good morning to her as she walked past. Rydia encountered another early riser as she neared the central well, the local tailor heading to the item shop for more threads and wool fabrics. She waved to the baker through her window and mimed that she will be by later to pick up her lunch. A few minutes more of wading through ankle-length snow and she finally arrived at her destination: the local school house.

The school consisted of a large, single room, laid in grids of benches and tables, with large maps of the world and locales pasted on the sturdy walls. Books lined numerous low shelves, neatly arranged by subjects, and pots of small evergreens stood guardians by the door and windows. Rydia took the time to line up today's materials on the front table and outlined the lesson's contents on the chalk board.

There were only a few children studying with her at the moment, but she hoped there will be many more to come in the future. She could hear them now, laughing and crunching through the snow toward her.

'Another peaceful day.' Rydia smiled, but soon was frowning. The letter from Troia was on her mind. No, more precisely, it was the thing which had arrived with the letter that was more puzzling.

A dried yellow rose.

* * *

"Do you really think it'll work?" Porom paced and glanced toward her twin brother, who was lounging carelessly on the window seat and observing the festivities below.

Palom snorted, "We agreed that this plan was the best out of all the options, so stop worrying. We've got nothing to lose, but nothing to gain either, if we let things go on as they were-" suddenly he sat up and pressed his forehead against the glass pane.

"What, what? What's happening?" Porom rushed to her twin's side and shoved him to one side, "How can you see anything out there when it's so dark- Oh!"

The Winter Equinox bonfire danced and roared hungrily below them, but it paled in comparison to the enthusiasm of the people around it who were enjoying life to the fullest. A crowd, composed mostly of women in bright clothing, was surging toward a man who had just stepped into the brightly lit main square. The shrieks were so loud the twins could hear it all the way from their room within Troia Castle.

"Fashionably late, as always," Palom murmured, "Now where's-"

"There!" his twin cut his sentence short and pointed toward a figure in all emerald green, on the other side of the bonfire from the man.

Porom crossed her fingers and shook Palom's shoulder excitedly, "I hope this works!"

Rattled and annoyed, Palom shook away her hand and looked at the scene below apprehensively, "Me too sis, me too…"

* * *

If it was a rampaging horde of monsters, Edge could have blended into the shadows and be gone in a blink. But trapped as he was by the crowds pressing in from behind, every one of them eager to get to the stalls and the spectacle of the bonfire, he could do nothing but stood his ground resignedly.

The wave of women broke over him and he was surrounded by chatters and introductions firing faster than thundaga. He did his best to put on what Seneschal called his 'kingly aura' and were able to eventually pushed on through to the center of the festival square where there was a dais set up for the guests of honor, and where the Epopts were waiting to be greeted.

And where he was confronted by a vision.

Rydia had reached the dais at about the same time as Edge, her journey much easier on the ears and with less obstruction. Their eyes met, held, then hers slid behind him and she suddenly turned away, toward her seat near one of the Epopts.

Edge frowned, but duties came first. He had learned to be king, had become one in actions and in words, and this was neither the time, nor place, to be anything else. He turned toward the Epopts, made his greetings on behalf of Eblan, settled on one of the seats, and prepared to not think too deeply about the expression in Rydia's eyes.

* * *

"What, that's it?" Palom exclaimed incredulously, "Ten years and those were all the reactions they had?"

Porom sighed and said sadly, "I knew this was a bad idea…"

Palom rounded on his twin, "Don't you get started sis! It was _you_ who came up with it in the first place!"

"Oh, shush, I know that already." Porom slid down the seat and crossed her arms, "What now?"

Palom also crossed his arms, "Maybe we should be more direct in our methods…"

"Direct? What do you mean?" Porom asked suspiciously.

"I don't know! Bash them on the heads and lock them in the same room, fake lovers, love potions-" Palom listed and winced as Porom poked him in the ribs.

"Stop. Right. There. Your ideas are getting more ridiculous AND morally wrong by the second!"

Palom sighed exasperatedly, "Well I'm not hearing you coming up with anything useful either, miss straight-laced!"

A laugh sounded behind them and both whirled in surprise. Rosa stood smiling in the doorway with Cecil, who was also chuckling.

"I should have known it was you twins who invited those two." the white mage said as she came to join them at the window.

Cecil shook his head as he headed toward the table in the corner, "I'm rather glad we arrived late because snowstorm and were able to excuse ourselves from presiding over the festivities. There seems to be something brewing down there which we would do better to avoid."

Porom sneaked a guilty look toward her twin, who was acting as if the concept of guilt had nothing to do with him whatsoever, "Well, it's been such a long time since last we saw the two of them together-"

"-We thought it'll be better if they get whatever it is out of their backsides and get back to speaking to each other, instead of freezing the room whenever one of the other's name was mentioned." Palom finished dryly.

Rosa's smile grew sad, "The temptation to interfere is great, I know, but sometimes it is better to just let events run their course."

"You two have already done the impossible task of getting them to share the same air for the first time in a decade. Now let the concerned parties initiate the next steps." Cecil seconded his queen, "They will manage. Hopefully without casualties or wrecked buildings."

"Cecil!" Rosa gasped, surprised at his matter-of-fact tone. He shrugged in answer and smiled reassuringly at the three of them by the window.

The twins nodded reluctantly in concert and turned back to look outside. They watched as the bonfire dwindled and the dancers leapt ever higher. Soon, the night will come to an end.

* * *

The moment the musicians thrummed the final beat, Rydia was out of her seat and striding away into the thick of the crowd.

It took only a heartbeat of agonizing indecision before Edge made up his mind and followed her. She was moving quickly, but so could he, as he stepped on boxes and crates, and used the less obtrusive rooftop route to shadowed her. The unusual route also had the added benefit of putting him out of easy reach of the female horde, who had been following him with the eyes of predators ever since he had gotten out of his seat. He apologized silently to their confused cries and increased his speed.

Rydia was determined to get away, as fast as possible, before she could say something else to make her regret ever opening her mouth. The cold, outside the globe of warmth provided by the bonfire, was intense. She ignored her frozen toes and pushed on through the snow, intent on reaching her destination and shelter. She could easily lose him in the myriad of hallways.

Troia Castle was in sight, but she was in too much of a hurry to notice a lump of shadow where there should have been none.

Edge stepped out of the gloom and into the torchlight, effectively barring her way across the drawbridge.

She stopped short at the perimeter and tried to contain the instinct to run. He had never looked so forbidding before. The Edge of her memories still was the roguish, almost carefree, ninja prince, someone who was able to make light of the heaviest hardships. Now, he looked like...a king.

The stalemate lasted forever and a second. Slowly, Edge untucked an object from his sash and held it out to her. A single, perfectly preserved, red rose. She had seen just one other like it.

Rydia moved into the glow of torches and the firelight warmed the dried yellow rose pinned on her cloak.

"This situation seems to have the twins' names written all over it," Edge whispered, scared of her bolting away again.

"Red and yellow..." Rydia whispered as well, as she unconsciously reached for the hand holding out the rose, "Red for love, yellow for joy..."

"Both for compromise," he reverently closed his hand on her chilled fingers, "I'm sorry Rydia, for the words I said back then."

She looked up, and was not really surprised to see he had already pulled down his mask. A soft kiss pressed against the back of her hand held in his.

"I love you," his voice shook a little, "Will you forgive me for being a childish bastard and be my friend again?"

Rydia looked into eyes, the same pair on a familiar stranger's face, and smiled sadly, "I forgive you. I'm sorry too, for pushing you away. I love you."

The last words were spoken with tears in her eyes. Edge leaned down and kissed the corners. Their arms found their way around each other and held fast.

They stood still and watched the drifting snowflakes disappeared in the torch's flames. The night's sounds were muffled and distant as they each listened to the other breathe, to the slowing staccato of their hearts.

"Will you visit me in Eblan?" Edge finally asked the question hanging invisible in the air between them.

Rydia pushed away a little, "No," and smiled mischievously at the expression on his face, "Not unless you promise to visit me first."

Edge laughed and shook his head, "I can't win against you. All right, all right. We'll go on tomorrow's last airship."

"Last?" Rydia asked, raising her brows.

Edge grinned into her knowing eyes and kissed her again, full on the mouth this time.

The next day, to the gleeful shouting of the twins, they entered the dining room together at noon.

* * *

Whew! Just in time for the deadline! This was what, longer than all three previous chapters combined?

Prompts: the years go by, set-up, proposal(?)


End file.
